In Present Day Fairy Tale Land, Emma and Mary Margaret have just discovered that the little boy Aurora saw in her nightmares is Henry. Of course, the obvious reaction to this news is convincing Aurora to become a mediator between the worlds. She needs to go back to sleep, fast! She needs to tell Henry to seek Mr. Gold’s help. How can they defeat Cora, who, by the way, is on mission to join the town of Storybrooke? I don’t know about you, but if I’ve just been sleeping, and if conditions were right and I’m no longer tired, falling back asleep mere minutes later cannot be done at the snap of a finger. But I guess we’re talking about fairy tale beings where magic is possible, so, Aurora does. Henry is there amongst the flames. Aurora tells him to find Rumplestiltskin. He can help. In Storybrooke, Henry wakes up and delivers the message. Regina is there and runs straight away to Mr. Gold.

At Granny’s, Mr. Gold and Belle are enjoying a long-overdue famous hamburger, only to be interrupted by yours truly. Mr. Gold is none too happy to see the Evil Queen, spitting harsh words in her directions. But you know what they say about mothers on a mission. Regina isn’t backing down. She explains that a very evil person, yes an even eviler person than she, is on her way to this quaint town, and without Mr. Gold’s help she may succeed in paying that visit. Thinking that he had defeated Cora years ago, Mr. Gold is stunned. He can’t let this happen. There’s bad blood between him and Cora, not to mention everyone else. Cora must be stopped.

After transporting Henry to Mr. Gold’s house, Mr. Gold puts Henry in a sleeping state, but not before telling a familiar story with new information. Once upon a time a certain prince and princess captured a very powerful magician using a certain quill. The magician was magically frozen and locked up in a cell.

However, it was not the quill that was the magician’s undoing but the ink with which it wrote. The ink is special for it comes from a particular squid that is only obtainable by a mermaid or him, Rumplestiltskin. It just so happens that Rumplestiltskin was saving a portion of that ink for a rainy day. Henry must tell Aurora to seek out Rumplestiltskin’s old cell. Find the ink and it will defeat Cora.

Henry, in the flame room (here on out deemed the Netherworld), attempts to tell Aurora. But the flames are too high and in the Fairy Tale World the small band of women are being attacked by Cora’s goons. Aurora is pulled from the Netherworld without the necessary information.

The women fight off the zombies only to find that Aurora has been captured. Henry wakes up. The news is not good. Aurora left before he could tell her what to do. And now his forearm has severe burns. Henry has sunk too deep into the Netherworld. When Aurora left abruptly, which is a big no-no in the Netherworld, the flames lashed out, harming Henry. Luckily for Henry, Mr. Gold has the magical touch. However, there is no way Regina or Prince Charming is letting Henry go back to that world. It’s too dangerous. Besides, Aurora is gone, perhaps for good. The plan: put Prince Charming in a sleeping curse. He can tell Snow White the message. She’s the only one left who’s been cursed and can perhaps make it to the Netherworld. They’re banking on it. If Regina can whip up a sleeping curse, Prince Charming can go under, tell Snow White the information and she can give him true loves kiss which will wake him up. Ta-da! Easy-peasy. The catch: well, this is Charming’s first time in a sleeping curse, whereas all the others had already been in a sleeping curse and had awakened, so Charming might not actually get to the flame room. Oh, and Snow White might not be there to deliver that kiss, and then Prince Charming will be forever in a sleeping curse. No big deal.

But faith runs deep in the Charming family. Regina concocts that potion, dips Mr. Gold’s sharp spindle in it, and points Prince Charming in its direction. With only a slight hesitation, Prince Charming pricks his finger on the spindle and instantly falls into a peaceful slumber. In the Netherworld, Prince Charming finds himself in a room filled with mirrors. It’s dark, but there’s a torch. Slowly he searches. It’s not until he glimpses his reflection that he finds his answer. The necklace Henry wore, which Henry gave to Charming, begins to glow. It’s like that “hot and cold” game. The closer he gets to the flame room, the larger the glow. So when Prince Charming hits his target, the necklace not only glows but becomes hot, burning hot. Charming drops it. The necklace breaks, spilling the potion. However, Charming discovers the floor is also hot, flaming hot. The fire room is beneath him. With a simple shove, he breaks through the floor where he finds Snow White. Snow White, Emma, and Mulan had sought out more poppy seeds that act like knockout powder. Since Snow White had been under the sleeping curse before, if she could reach that state of deep sleep once again, via the poppies, she could reach the Netherworld.

So when she spots Charming amongst the flames instead of Henry, she’s horrified and pleased. The two run to embrace each other only to find they’re like holograms, there but not really there. They’re in a dream world. While the message can be delivered, true love’s kiss is impossible. If they can’t even touch how can they kiss? Snow White must find the ink and come back home to kiss Charming awake. They can be together. They will be together. They must have faith. Snow White leaves, desperate to find the ink, to get back home. To save Charming.

At Cora’s camp, Aurora finds herself locked in the same cell she and Mulan had locked Emma and Mary Margaret in. Cora tries to win Aurora over, but Aurora’s allegiance is strong. She won’t ever give Cora what she desires, not even if Aurora must die. Angered, Cora knocks Aurora out cold. Later, Aurora awakens to Captain Hook’s voice. You see, he had been left by Cora after he returned from the beanstalk. Cora no longer needed him to get what she wanted. Besides, he was a turncoat. So, after awakening Aurora, he unlocks her chains and tells her to go. He’s freeing her, but she must deliver a message to Emma: Emma should have trusted Hook; he would have done right by her. Aurora leaves to find the girls, which she does, and just in the nick of time to save Mulan, who had stolen the compass to free Aurora, from Mary Margaret.

Back at Cora’s camp, Hook is discovered by her evilness. She pins him to the wall. How dare he show his face? His only bargaining chip is in his satchel. It’s a heart. Aurora’s heart. Using the heart like some kind of mind-control piece, Cora whispers the words Aurora simultaneously tells the girls. Hook let her go because of his infatuation with Emma. They should have trusted him. Emma and Mary Margaret may feel this is suspicious, but they decide to trust Aurora, who is merely a victim here. They share where they’re going: Rumplestiltskin’s cell to get the magic ink. However, Aurora’s heart doubles as a crystal ball. And the two villains are listening in. Not only will Cora receive the long-awaited compass, her ticket to Storybrooke, but it will be hand delivered…

Burning Questions: 1) How does Hook know how to take hearts from people? 2) When will Mary Margaret and Emma get back to save Prince Charming? 3) What will Mary Margaret and Emma do when they discover Aurora is being used as a pawn? 4) Will Cora make it Storybrooke? When? Who else will get back? 5) What is the beef between Granny and Rumplestiltskin?6) Will we see Ursula and Ariel soon? 7) Whose side is Captain Hook really on? 8) Will this really be Regina’s last stint with magic? 9) Is Regina actually turning good? Or is the return of her evil nature imminent? ~ TarynP.S. Tune in to ABC at 8/7c next week as it will be the show's winter finale. That means at least 4 weeks before Once Upon a Time will air again in January. And from the promo, it's not an episode you'll want to miss!

And once one controls something, one no longer need fear it. Hearing a wolf howl at the moon sounds both mournful and natural. The wolf and moon have an undeniable connection. Much like the wolf, this episode is chock full of mourning, connection, and even discovery, both of self and otherwise. Let’s begin in the Fairy Tale Land. Snow White and Red are running from hunters. Red has just killed Peter and she must hide. Eluding the hunters, Red and Snow White agree to split up and meet again in the morning by a stream. The next morning as Red waits for Snow White to appear, a man with glowing eyes pounces on her, grabs her red cloak and makes a dash for it. Red chases the man, named Quinn, and begs for her cloak back. Why does she need it? He goads. He, too, is one of her kind. There are more of them. She can have her cloak, but she needs to come with him. He and his pack can teach her all about controlling the wolf-side of her. No more black outs. Total control. Desiring to have control over the wolf within her, Red takes him up on his offer and follow him to his den. Inside, she meets their leader, Anita. Anita, in fact, is Red’s mother, the mother Red always believed was dead. Embracing her mother, she agrees to follow any rules the pack has. In turn, her mother teaches her control. Red no longer needs her cloak.

However, Red forgot about her meeting with Snow; so, when Snow discovers the den, the wolves pounce, tying Snow White to a pole. Red is one of them now, and to show loyalty to her kind and not the humans, Red must kill Snow. Red refuses. She can’t kill her best friend. Fine! Anita will do it. Transforming into a wolf, Anita closes in on Snow White. As Anita prepares to pounce, Red morphs into a wolf and saves Snow White, only in the process she killed her mother. She’s sorry for that, but she can’t embrace one part of her and not the other. She must be true to both her selves. She is both. Snow White is the only person who ever accepted her completely.

Looking at Storybrooke, we begin with a full moon. Ruby is worried about endangering the townsfolk.

It’s been 28 years since she’s turned into her wolfish alter ego, and she’s searched everywhere for her magical red cloak, even Gold’s, but the garment is nowhere to be found: it didn’t come over when the curse hit. David believes that Ruby has enough control to not need to be locked up, but Ruby can’t take any chances of harming anyone, including the newly discovered, cheese-loving mouse, Gus, from Cinderella, also known as Billy the tow trucker. So, out of Granny’s freezer comes the lasagna and in goes Ruby—at least for the night. The next morning, Granny returns to her diner to release Ruby, but only claw marks and a busted door greet her! David and Granny search for Ruby only to find her in the woods. Paranoid at what she might have done, she questions everything. When David gets a call, she’s sure it’ll be about some murderous act she committed; but his call is only about a parking violation. That is until they arrive on the scene. Billy’s tow truck, the violating vehicle, is empty and his body, covered in blood, lays on the ground by the tire! Ruby’s horrified! Lock her up, she says. Wolfs-time isn’t over yet; only a jail cell can hold her now. So David does.

It’s not long before a certain DA, or should I say king, learns of the murder. Already out to destroy David, King George is cooking up a plan. Rally the town and kill the wolf. That’ll show the town that their prince has no control. But when the town plus King George break into the jail to kill Ruby, they discover an empty cell. David may not have been an actual prince in Fairy Tale Land, but he has many princely qualities, two being quick thinking and strategy skills. One step ahead of his kingly “father,” David takes Ruby to Belle’s library. Chained in the library, Ruby’ll be safe and kept from harming more people. David leaves Ruby with Belle. Belle tells Ruby she’ll stay with Ruby through the night. She’s fairly familiar with being around monsters. (Apologies for the term, Ruby). Nevertheless, Ruby can’t risk harming her friend and ends up locking Belle in her own library. Ruby will run away, deep into the woods. She doesn’t get far before a howl can be heard across the town. The mob descends.

Across town, David and Granny are searching for answers. They discover a valuable piece of information. King George has framed Ruby. In King George’s car trunk is Ruby’s cloak, an ax, and paper evidence that could lead to David’s destruction. When David and Granny hear Ruby howl, they race to rescue her. In front of the townsfolk, David presents the evidence, gains Ruby’s trust in wolf form, and turns her back into a human by cloaking her in red. When they turn to the mob, King George is missing!

The three find him in front of a bonfire. In a menacingly calm tone, King George mocks David once again and pulls out a precious object—Jefferson’s hat. You see, earlier, by accident, the dwarves finally discovered diamonds in the mines. Fairy dust was now possible, and there would be enough to repair Jefferson’s hat and make it work. King George knew this and stole the hat. With a wicked grin, King George throws the hat into the fire, destroying David’s only link to his family in Fairy Tale Land! At Mary Margaret’s apartment, David laments never seeing his wife and daughter again. Little does he know the incident that happened earlier with Henry, Regina, and Mr. Gold. When David was off helping Ruby, Regina had been sent to watch over Henry while he napped. Henry, gripped in the flaming nightmare, awakens with a jerk, discovering that the flames had transcended into reality, actually burning some skin on his hand. Regina immediately calls Gold for help. Mr. Gold mixes a potion and places it in a necklace for Henry to wear while he sleeps. This necklace will give Henry power over the dreams until they cease. So, while David laments, Henry dreams…

…In present Fairy Tale Land, Mulan may have discovered a way to track down Cora.

Mary Margaret and Emma leave to talk to her while Aurora sleeps. Again Aurora’s dream traps her in the fire room, except this time the eyes she sees now belong to a little boy. Above the roaring flames, he calls out to her, trying to calm her. The flames recede and Aurora wakes up with a start. Mary Margaret and Emma run to her side. Aurora, gasping for breath, exclaims that she saw a boy and that he said his name is Henry!

Burning Questions: 1) How will this link between Henry and Aurora help the two worlds find a portal back to Storybrooke? Or will it bring Storybrooke citizens back to their native land? 2) What will happen when the women track down Cora? 3) Why/How did the flames actually burn Henry? 4) How long do these nightmare side effects last? Did Snow White get burned too? Or is this a completely different dream? 5) For what purpose would Mr. Gold freely give away some magic to Henry? What is his plan? 6) How will David get back at King George? 7) Will there be more deaths because of Ruby or does she really have complete control now? 8) How much power will fairy dust have in Storybrooke? What can it do for Mr. Gold and his curse?~ Taryn

There was a guy named Jack, and a cow, and something about evil giants with a treasure, and a golden goose…or harp. Sounds like a lovely tale, but the truth’s a little bit more gruesome. In Fairy Tale Land, Emma, Mary Margaret, and crew, including Hook, are faced with a very tall, green, vine-y challenge. While the legend of Jack and the Beanstalk may have been distorted for us in the real world, the truth of Jack the Giant Killer and his brave, albeit foolish, quest up the beanstalk is not lost on those native to the enchanted land. And they are all too aware of the magical compass that is in the hands of the giant of the giants who resides at the stalks summit. Motivated by her love for Henry, Emma volunteers to accompany Hook up the stalk to retrieve the compass. Before leaving the ground, she makes Mulan promise to cut the beanstalk down after 10 hours if they aren’t back, and make sure Mary Margaret gets home. Several thousand feet in the air, minus harnesses or safety nets, Hook strikes up conversation, quickly alluding to Emma’s past, her abandonment and her desire to be reunited with her son. Emma, suspicious of Hook, keeps her responses to a bare minimum. Just get the job done and get home. At the top, amidst Hook’s frequent come-ons, Emma knocks out the overly giant giant with some magical powder Mulan gave her, and the two begin to search for the priceless compass.

But do you know how long magical knockout powder lasts on someone so large? Not very long. And before Emma and Hook can find the compass, the giant is upon them, crashing and breaking nearly everything in sight.

The two duck for cover; Hook is covered with large debris, and Emma is at the mercy of the giant who only wants revenge on the human species. Quick on her feet, or teeth, Emma bites the giant, captures him in his own trap, and bargains with his life for the compass, which he hands over. Humans are all the same: killers. So what does it matter if she has the compass or not. She’ll kill him anyway. Emma is many things but she is not a killer. So she lets him live. In return, the giant breaks out of his confines and offers her one favor, a safe way out and down the stalk. But Emma could have killed the giant twice, so she demands a second favor. Delay Hook for 10 hours, then the giant can let him go. It will give her and her friends a head start.

Down on the ground, the girls have taken shifts. Aurora doesn’t want to sleep due to frequent nightmares, but Mary Margaret convinces her it will be okay. Mary Margaret will watch over her, and should Aurora have any nightmares, a side-effect to the sleeping curse, Mary Margaret will be right there. Sure enough, Aurora is soon in the throes of a nightmare. Mary Margaret quickly wakes the young girl up, asking Aurora to share the nightmare. She was in a room, a red room. There were blood red curtains, but no windows. The curtains were on fire. And when she looked up from her place in a corner, there were eyes, his eyes, watching her. Mary Margaret consoles Aurora and somehow convinces her to sleep again.

Ten hours have passed since Emma and Hook disappeared up the beanstalk. Honoring Emma’s request, Mulan, sword in hand, begins to whack at the beanstalk.

Enraged, Mary Margaret flings herself at the she-warrior, knocking them both to the ground. No one, and she means no one, is ever going to put her daughter in danger!

The fight is short-lived because Emma immediately appears, falling the last several feet down the beanstalk. Mary Margaret is overjoyed and angry. How dare Emma suggest such nonsense, leaving Mary Margaret alone? They came to Fairy Tale Land together and they leave together. Does Emma understand? She does. Mother-daughter hug! Now all they have to do is steal the wardrobe ashes from Cora! (Good luck, ladies!)

In Storybrooke, or should I say Portland, Oregon, some 11 years ago, Emma is on the run. Young and dumb, she decides that today is a great day to steal a car: a bright, yellow VW bug! Jacking the car, she begins to drive, but she’s not alone. His name’s Neal, Neal Cassidy. And no, this is not his car either. In fact, Emma just stole a stolen car. Can you feel the chemistry? Well, even if you can’t, there is. With a Bonnie and Clyde-esque lifestyle for a few months, the two rob some convenience stores, planning to ultimately settle down in Tallahassee. But that life would be a dream if only Neal, in his life before Emma, hadn’t stolen some high-end watches. While he never did time, he’s a wanted man. Tallahassee is out of the question. That is until Emma decides to steal the stolen watches. (She’s pretty good at this second-hand thievery). Anyway, Neal had stashed the watches at a train depot. He still has the key. Emma can grab the watches, sell them to a fence, and they can make off to Tallahassee with dozens of G’s in pocket. Key in hand, Emma grabs the watches and meets back with Neal. All he has to do is hand the goods off to the middleman and they can be on their way. They’ll meet again in a few hours.

However, after years of failing at his duty, August Booth has caught up to Emma, or rather, Neal. Cornering the man and showing Neal some undeniable evidence (which the camera fails to let its viewers in on), August explains Emma’s destiny. Let Emma go so she can do her job. Neal reluctantly agrees. At the rendezvous, Emma waits. When Neal doesn’t show, she calls him. No answer. It’s then that a police officer spots her and the watch around her wrist that Neal gave her. Yeah, it was one of the stolen ones. Cuffed, Emma lands herself in a minimal security prison for 11 months.

Two months in two things happen. First, Neal meets with August in Canada. He can’t just let Emma go, not unless he knows she’s alright. August tells Neal that Emma is serving time, but she’s safe. When she gets out she can follow her destiny, but only if Neal stays away.

Neal gives August some cash and a key chain. He wants August to get them to Emma. And he wants to give Emma the yellow VW Bug. He’s legally registered it so she shouldn’t have any problems.

August agrees to give Emma Neal’s gift. And when Emma breaks the curse, he’ll send Neal a postcard.

Secondly, in jail, Emma receives the gift. But more than that is the news that she’s pregnant with 9 months left on her sentence.

In Storybrooke, for real this time, Henry had a bad dream. Prince Charming rushes to his side, lights a candle like he did for Snow when she had her nightmares, and waits for Henry to share.

He was in a room, a red room. There were blood red curtains, but no windows. The curtains were on fire. And when he looked up from his place in a corner, there were eyes, her eyes, watching him…

Burning Questions: 1) What does the red room with fire curtains mean? Are Henry and Aurora seeing each other? How and why? 2) How hard will it be to get the wardrobe ashes from Cora? 3) Will Hook catch up with the girls? 4) When did Emma actually live in Tallahassee? Why did she stay there so long? 5) Will we get to see more of Emma’s back-story? Will this reveal who helped Rumplestiltskin procure Henry for Regina? 6) What was the object Neal saw in August’s box? Would Emma have seen it too, and not a typewriter, if she had believed in magic when August showed her in Season 1? 7) Will Neal Cassidy go to Storybrooke? What will happen when/if he does? ~ Taryn